Click the title of this post to view the video.This video is a clip of a newscast with a story about "lock bumping" where thieves can make special keys that fit into any lock and by "bumping" the key with a hammer or screwdriver, the special key will open any door.
From a rhetorical perspective, this clip uses fearful language to position the viewer as a victim. From the introductory line of the newscast, "If you think your home is safe just because the door is locked, think again," to the sensationalized copy in the middle, "Everyone who sees this in action is stunned!", the story exaggerates the danger of this type of thievery to turn the audience into victims under immediate threat.
Additionally, the clip uses specific images of women and children to create a victim mentality. In the first image I reference to the left, a woman holds a child as she talks about how scared she is to learn of lock bumping. The camera then zooms in on the child's face to imply the ultimate fear of any mother—her child could be in danger.
The other visual used that positions the audience as fearful, is the one shown here of a woman standing with her back to the camera. In this scene, the camera follows a thief into the woman's house, where she washes the dishes unsuspectingly. Using a scene like this that any viewer can relate to (as herself or one's wife), evokes images of a horror movie and further reinforces a fearful audience.This clip also offended me when viewed from a feminist perspective. All of the women in this story are portrayed as fearful; they are all housewives interviewed in their homes, worried about a thief breaking in. On the other hand, the lock "expert" is a man. He calmly explains why these soon-to-be-victims should be scared and how they can buy a new lock (from him, I'm sure) to prevent this from happening. From a feminist lens, the clip certainly favors men as not being under a threat, but women are. To me, this infers a "weaker sex" mentality of the little woman who cannot defend herself. Apparantly, men are not scared of a thief because none of them were interviewed, nor was one shown with his back to the camera while doing the dishes. Hmmmm.
2 comments:
Along the lines of what you were saying about threatening images and language... they mention at the end that they have "solution-oriented" material on line, but the newscast is basically a "be afraid of this new threat" piece. They also don't add any comments or facts to the locksmith saying that you can just buy a lock that's a little better.
The lock guy seemed to be making a sales pitch through the news. ("This lock is cheaper than an alarm system...") And like Petra said, why did they keep the solutions separate on the website instead of including them in the newscast? Wouldn't the safe solutions be more helpful than just mentioning this phenomenon and reinforcing it with fearful messages from women and children if this really is a legitimate danger?
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